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Loading... Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Book 5) (original 2003; edition 2004)by J. K. Rowling
Work InformationHarry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J. K. Rowling (2003)
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. There is a door at the end of a silent corridor. And it's haunting Harry Potter's dreams. Why else would he be waking in the middle of the night, screaming in terror? It's not just the upcoming O.W.L. exams; a new teacher with a personality like poisoned honey; a venomous, disgruntled house-elf; or even the growing threat of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Now Harry Potter is faced with the unreliability of the very government of the magical world and the impotence of the authorities at Hogwarts. Despite this (or perhaps because of it), he finds depth and strength in his friends, beyond what even he knew; boundless loyalty; and unbearable sacrifice. I believe that "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" is the one of the best entries in the franchise. I love this book and the movie its based on. I believe that people don't give this installment nearly as much as credit as it deserves, and I'll try to explain why I believe so in this review. The greatest aspect of this book is its mature tone and themes. Now, I know that people may laugh at what I just said, claiming that all Harry Potter books are for children. While I would agree with that opinion if they were talking about the first 2-3 books, I heavily disagree with it with regards to the remaining entries, especially this one. It is much more serious, dark, and depressing than any of the books in this franchise thus far. By the end of the book, Harry's depressed mood isn't completely gone. He's still miserable. He yells at Albus Dumbledore, he storms out of Hagrid's cabin without letting him complete his good-byes, and he wishes nothing for himself but death to end the insane amount of grief he has over Sirius Black's death. At the same time, not every good character is made out to be perfect. As I mentioned in my Prisoner of Azkaban review, I love that they made Black a morally grey character (pun not intended). It is more apparent than ever in this book, where his arrogant younger self (as well as that of James Potter) is revealed, and where his horrible treatment of his slave, Kreacher, is what inadvertently causes his own death. I love the fact that our exceedingly positive views of James and Sirius are put to question, as well as our exceedingly negative views of Severus Snape. The characters don't feel like cartoons anymore. They feel like real people, and I love that. Yes, this book goes on for quite a long time, but I actually kind of like that. In the first 4 books of this series, practically every single paragraph is important and drags the plot forward. There is very little information contained in any paragraph that doesn't affect the overall story in one way or another. However, this book takes its time. It lets the world, the dialogue, the plot, and the characters soak in. It takes its sweet time describing scenery, and it lets us read these characters engaging in dialogue for quite some time before moving on to the next thing, and that's what makes the pay-offs immensely satisfying in the end. It's a slow-burner, for sure. I will say, however, that the plot was not perfectly planned by Rowling here. Some things seemed very convenient. The whole section where Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Luna, and Neville get cornered by Umbridge in her office and Hermione tricks her into coming to the Forbidden Forest so that she can get attacked by centaurs feels very convenient. A lot of unlikely things happen that help propel it forward. Also, the protagonists have quite a lot of plot armor when fighting the Death Eaters in the Department of Mysteries. Lucius Malfoy orders them to kill everyone but Harry Potter, yet they resort to Stunning spells instead and never take this perfect opportunity to murder them. With that being said, this is still a fantastic story in my opinion, and I wish more people would give it credit and analyze what it does right instead of simply dismissing it as "the long one."
The family romance is a latency-period fantasy, belonging to the drowsy years between 7 and adolescence. In ''Order of the Phoenix,'' Harry, now 15, is meant to be adolescent. He spends a lot of the book becoming excessively angry with his protectors and tormentors alike. He discovers that his late (and ''real'') father was not a perfect magical role model, but someone who went in for fits of nasty playground bullying. He also discovers that his mind is linked to the evil Lord Voldemort, thereby making him responsible in some measure for acts of violence his nemesis commits... Ms. Rowling's magic world has no place for the numinous. It is written for people whose imaginative lives are confined to TV cartoons, and the exaggerated (more exciting, not threatening) mirror-worlds of soaps, reality TV and celebrity gossip. Its values, and everything in it, are, as Gatsby said of his own world when the light had gone out of his dream, ''only personal.'' Nobody is trying to save or destroy anything beyond Harry Potter and his friends and family. Las tediosas vacaciones de verano en casa de sus tíos todavía no han acabado y Harry se encuentra más inquieto que nunca. Apenas ha tenido noticias de Ron y Hermione, y presiente que algo extraño está sucediendo en Hogwarts. En efecto, cuando por fin comienza otro curso en el famoso colegio de magia y hechicería, sus temores se vuelven realidad. El Ministerio de Magia niega que Voldemort haya regresado y ha iniciado una campaña de desprestigio contra Harry y Dumbledore, para lo cual ha asignado a la horrible profesora Dolores Umbridge la tarea de vigilar todos sus movimientos. Así pues, además de sentirse solo e incomprendido, Harry sospecha que Voldemort puede adivinar sus pensamientos, e intuye que el temible mago trata de apoderarse de un objeto secreto que le permitiría recuperar su poder destructivo. Belongs to SeriesHarry Potter (5) Is contained inHas the adaptationIs parodied inHas as a reference guide/companionNew Clues to Harry Potter Book 5: Hints from the Ultimate Unofficial Guide to the Mysteries of Harry Potter by Galadriel Waters Has as a student's study guideAwardsDistinctionsNotable Lists
When the government of the magic world and authorities at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry refuse to believe in the growing threat of a freshly revived Lord Voldemort, fifteen-year-old Harry Potter finds support from his loyal friends in facing the evil wizard and other new terrors. No library descriptions found.
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)823.914Literature English English fiction Modern Period 1901-1999 1945-1999LC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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Things at Hogwarts are more difficult than previous years. Besides being the 5th year when the students take O.W.L. exams which determine their future careers, many of the school believe the news about Harry Potters’ lies. Made even worse with their new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher who reports directly to the Ministry. The miseries of the year are alleviated only with a secret club formed to practice magic which Harry Potter teaches. The Order of the Phoenix and those who believe that the Dark Lord has returned need find ways to prevent Voldemort from achieving his aim which seems to be a weapon he did not possess the last time he was around.
There is a bit of a disconnect between the previous books in the series and this one which has to do with Harry Potter. For some reason, Harry’s personality is drastically different. Not that some change due to previous books events should not have occurred, but the change is too drastic as to be meant for drama rather than narrative.
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